Master Yi vs Nautilus — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Master Yi against Nautilus · 49.93% win rate over 765 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Nautilus is favoured — Nautilus owns 3 of the 7 game windows to Master Yi's 2. Play it patient and win your windows. Master Yi wins 49.93% of games vs Nautilus in top lane (765 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1NautilusNautilus's level-1 root passive and shielded trades punish Yi hard out of the gate.
Level 2NautilusDredge Line plus Staggering Blow can chain-CC and burst you before you reach a scaling window.
Level 3NautilusHis shield and CC keep the early trades firmly in his favour.
Levels 4-5Even / skillBy levels 4-5 it's skill-based: dodging Dredge Line with Alpha Strike neutralizes his whole threat.
Level 6Even / skillAt 6 Depth Charge interrupts your combos, keeping the fight even until you out-scale.
First itemMaster YiYour first item lets you out-DPS his tank frame and dodge his telegraphed hook.
Two+ itemsMaster YiHighlander and true damage let you kill through Titan's Wrath and out-split him late.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Nautilus wins early: his passive Staggering Blow roots, Dredge Line pulls you in, and Titan's Wrath shields his trades, so a single hook on a squishy Yi can mean death — hug the wave and don't get greedy.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Master Yi vs Nautilus report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.

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Playing the other side? Nautilus vs Master Yi guide →
All Master Yi top lane matchups →